The electronics industry has experienced an ever increasing demand for smaller and faster electronic devices which are simultaneously able to support a greater number of increasingly complex and sophisticated functions. Accordingly, there is a continuing trend in the semiconductor industry to manufacture low-cost, high-performance, and low-power integrated circuits (ICs). Thus far these goals have been achieved in large part by scaling down semiconductor IC dimensions (e.g., minimum feature size) and thereby improving production efficiency and lowering associated costs. However, such scaling has also introduced increased complexity to the semiconductor manufacturing process. Thus, the realization of continued advances in semiconductor ICs and devices calls for similar advances in semiconductor manufacturing processes and technology.
Recently, multi-gate devices have been introduced in an effort to improve gate control by increasing gate-channel coupling, reduce OFF-state current, and reduce short-channel effects (SCEs). One such multi-gate device that has been introduced is the fin field-effect transistor (FinFET). The FinFET gets its name from the fin-like structure which extends from a substrate on which it is formed, and which is used to form the FET channel. FinFETs are compatible with conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes and their three-dimensional structure allows them to be aggressively scaled while maintaining gate control and mitigating SCEs. During the fabrication of advanced semiconductor devices, such as FinFETs, dummy structures (i.e., structures with no electrical function) may be used, for example, to provide a uniform processing environment (e.g., a uniform topography) across a wafer surface. Alternatively, in some examples, such dummy structures may be used as part of a “gate-last” process, where an active gate structure replaces a dummy gate structure at a late stage of a semiconductor device fabrication process. The integration of dummy structures with advanced transistor devices (e.g., FinFET devices), in particular as transistor devices have continued to be aggressively scaled down, has introduced considerable new challenges. In short, existing semiconductor fabrication techniques have not proved entirely satisfactory in all respects.